This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for providing identification. This invention has particular but not exclusive application to a method of and apparatus for identifying persons and unique articles which retain a lifelong distinctive identity such as paintings and other objects of art. Such persons and articles are hereinafter collectively referred to as “an individual or individuals”. In other aspects the invention may be used for identifying freightable articles such as shipping containers, motor vehicles or the like.
Positive identification of individuals is important for preventing unauthorized access to or passage from selected locations or facilities such as banks, accounts, etc. and restricted areas such as secure buildings and airport terminals and the like. Positive identification of individuals is particularly important for making Government level decisions concerning travelers access to countries, especially international travelers.
International travelers are often subjected to disruptive and excessive delays upon arrival at and/or departure from airport terminals as officials attempt to establish the bona fides of each traveler by manually interrogating each traveler and comparing the person being interrogated with the available identification such as passports, memory lists and computer files and the like, with the aim of identifying any traveler who is unauthorized to enter the country or whose details are on lists of restricted individuals. This entry check is also utilized to record details of movement of travelling individuals to and from each country visited.
The presently available methods of positive identification of an individual typically include passports, knowledge of restricted information, such as a password, possession of a restricted article, such as a pass key, or physical appearance of the individual as portrayed in a reference photo.
Security based upon knowledge of restricted information or possession of a restricted article may be compromised without discovery since the information may be obtained from its rightful owner. Consequently such information does not provide a satisfactory method for positive identification of an individual in all cases, particularly where such identification has to be made quickly.
Methodologies relying on physical appearance, commonly referred to as biometric techniques such as fingerprint analysis, thermograms and DNA analysis are considered less vulnerable to mistaken identity and therefore am attractive to authorities but to date have been difficult to utilize successfully. Mostly such methodologies require a vast databank containing the particular biometric data which may be difficult and/or slow to locate and access.
One known method of utilizing biometric techniques for identification of an individual for the purpose of restricting entry to an area to authorized persons only, includes providing each of the authorized individuals with a card containing biometric data specific to each individual. The card can be proffered at a reading station wherein the biometric data is read by a card reader or the like and compared with the individual proffering the card. A high correlation between the card data and the contemporaneously acquired data of the individual proffering the card results in access and a low correlation causes a refusal. This system however does not prevent unauthorized cards being produced which may be used for gaining unauthorized access to a facility.
Another known method includes comparing the biometric data on a card proffered by an individual to a previously created database of biometric data of authorized individuals. Such a system can be foiled by individuals who have obtained a card from its rightful owner.